Improvement in paper bags



J. ARKELL. Paper-Bag.

Pen'ted Oct. 29, 1878.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE -JAMES ARKELL, OF CANAJOHARIE, NEV YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN PAPER BAGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 209,315, dated October29, 18781; application filed l May 21, 1878.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, JAMES ARKELL, of Ganajoharie, in the county ofMontgomery and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Bags 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is afull and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying` drawings, making part of this specification.

It has become customary with millers and others, in putting up flour andother material in satchel-bottom bags or sacks for the market, to closethe mouth of the lled sack by folding over and pasting down the materialof which the sack is composed, so as to produce a securely-sealed package,presentin g at each end substantially the same appearance andstructure. rlhis is frequently deemed, for many reasons, a much moredesirable mode of closing the bag-mouth than that in which the closingof the package is effected by gathering together the material of whichthe bag is composed and tying it with a cord or other binding device;but previous .to my invention considerable difticulty has beenencountered in practicing that mode of closing the mouths of bags orsacks in which the packages are completed by folding over and pastingdown the material, as just stated, because, in the first place, thematerial of which the sacks or bags are made is frequently of acharacter (especially where heavy paper is used) which renders itexceedingly difficult to break down and fold over the bag material ontothe contained` mass with that regularity as to the angles or cornersformed and that precision as to the folds made which are necessary toproduce a properly-sealed and marketable package, or one that has itsclosed mouth end'folded up, so as to present a comparatively neatappearance; and, in the second place, whether the bag be of materialthat may be readily or with difficulty broken over and folded down inany desired shape,much difficulty is encountered on account of havingalways to form two opposite edges of the package by folds transverse toand bisecting the two folds or creases common to Satchel-bottom bags intheir usual flattened condition, and much skill and time required inorder to effect the closing of the mouth of the bag, so that when closedit shall vtom of the filled sack, that a package perfect present 'thesame shape and size substantially as the bottom or opposite end of thepackage; and it is important that it should correspond in contour withthe bottom, for if the two ends of the closed bag are not of the samecontour the package will not be perfectly shaped, and will therefore notpresent a desirable appearance, nor can the filled bags be piled inquantities in the mill or store-house, as is usual, with the samefacility as when the bags or packages are such that all their sides areperfectly rectangular in contour. My invention has for its main purposeto overcome the difficulties mentioned, and to provide a bag' or sack inthe use of which the mouth of bag may be readily folded over, not onlywith that degree of accuracy necessary to insure perfection in thesealing or closing of the mouth end of the package, but in such a mannerthat the closed end will so correspond in size and shape, or so matchthe botiu shape will be the result; and to this main object and end myinvention consists in a y Satchel-bottom bag made in the usual iattenedcondition, but having the material of which it is composed so marked,creased, or otherwise treated or .prepared in the vicinity of its mouthas to facilitate the folding over of the bagmouth (to close or seal it)in a given manner, and in such a manner that, when closed, the mouth endof the bag shall present substantially the same size and shape as theother end, and the package thus formed have all its sides rectangular,as will be hereinafter mor fully explained.

lo enable those skilled in the art to make and use bags embodying myinvention, I will proceed to describe the latter more fully, referringby letters to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, and in which- Figure l is a view of an ordinarysatchelbottom paper bag or flour-sack in the flattened condition inwhich such bags are generallysent 3 out from the manufactory. Fig. 2 isa perspectLve view of the same in a vertical position and distendedcondition, presenting about the appearance the bag would when filledwith the flour or other article to be packed in itl" Fig. 3 is -asimilar view, but with the mouth end partially folded in to close thebag; and Fig. 4 is a similar view with the mouth end entirely closed upor sealed, to insure the retention of the contents in the completedpackage.

In the several figures the same devices and parts are indicated by thesame reference-letter.

In the manufacture of the bag either creases, fold-marks, or lines aremade in or upon the surface of the bag material at the mouth end, asillustrated in. the drawing by the dotted lines a b, c d, ef, g d, andhf. These marks, creases, indentations, or lines are made at anylocalities at which it is necessary the paper or other material of whichthe bag is composed shall be bent or folded, in order to close the mouthof the bag after a fashion that will cause the mouth end of the closedpackage to present substantially the shape or appearance, or both, ofthe other endi. e., the bottom of the sack-and they serve in the case ofmere lines as guides merely, by which the material may be creased andfolded over in the operation of closing up the filled sack; or

in the case of creases or weak portions in the s stock they serve notonly as guides, but also operate to facilitate and insure the breakingdown and folding` up of the distended. bagmouth in a given manner toproduce the desired shape and structure of the mouth end of thecompleted package.

It will be understood that, asv at Fig. l, only one thickness or ply ofthe flattened bag is seen, only half of the marks or creases areillustrated by the dotted lines seen in that gure, and that the otherhalf of the bag` ma- -R terial (the other thickness of paper) is marked,creased, or otherwise similarly treated at lines which would beimmediately beneath the dotted lines of that figure; and it will beunderstood that, as in the closing of this kind of bags, afterdistention and filling, two opposite folds (to form two opposite edgesof the package) have always to be made transversely to the usualvertical creases of the iattened bag, which tend to form verticalcorners or edges, the presence of guide-marks or creases, or both, tofacilitate the formation of straight folds and edges at said twoopposite edges, is very desirable.

1t will be seen that when a bag thus made l is distended, as shown atFig. 2, and filled or packed up to the proper point-say to about v theline .rxwith the material to be enveloped, the mouth end may be easilybroken down and folded in, and sealed by first folding inwardly anddownwardly the two narrower sides k l, as seen at Fig. 3, and thenfolding inwardly and downwardly and pasting or otherwise fastening thetwo wider sides or liaps m o, as seen at Fig. 4.

In tucking in and folding down the portion k, the lines or creases at ad, c d, and d g of Fig. l (and the corresponding lines of the therthickness) are those, it will be seen, at

which the paper is folded, the lines a d of the two plies forming, whenthe bag is distended, as at Fig. 2, the one line, d2 d. (Seen in saidfigure, and also in each of the succeeding iig-l ures of the drawing.)

The portion l, it will be seen, is folded in by the corresponding set oflines to those just mentioned at the other side or opposite part of thebag, and the sort of V-shaped flaps m and o are folded inward and downby the lines or creases df and dzfz. (See Figs. l and 4.)

It willl be observed by reference to the drawing that when, in the useof a bag made according to my invention, the mouth is folded over ontothe contents, and the folded naps or portions properly pasted' orotherwise secured in place, (either by sticking the folded portionstogether or by cementing over them some auxiliary piece or device,) apackage is presented having both ends about the same in structure andappearance, and it will be understood, of course, that this may beaccomplished with bags of various structures and shapes of Satchel-likebottom.

In practice, I have found it preferable to make the bag with suchcreases or lines as partially rupture the fiber of the stock or weakenthe fabric of material at the exact localities where the folds shouldoccur in the subsequent operation of closing up the bagmouth; but itwill be understood that much of the advantageous result of my inventionmay be derived from the use of lines or marks merely on the outersurface of the bag. and that where the bag is made of very light orflexible material such superficial marks only may be quite sucient incarrying out the i11- vention herein described, since the functions ofthe novel device with which the bag is made are, rst, to indicate thelines at which the stock should be folded, and, second, (in the case ofthe use of heavy or stiff material,) to facilitate the bending orfolding over ot' the stock at the proper lines. The' guidemarks andcreases for thus predetermining the shape of the closed mouth end of thebag and facilitating the folding down into the desired shape ofthematerial may be made in any desired manner.

So far as I have yet practiced my invention, I have found it expedientto crease thel material by machinery adapted to make indented markssimultaneously in the two plies of the flattened bag. This mode ofcreasing is, however, adapted to that kind of bags made from heavy paperand from a flattened tubular bag-blank.

ln'sorne instances, as I have remarked, mere lines drawn or printed onthe fabric of bag may answer; and in the manufacture of bags in otherways-as, for instance, in the making of a bag over a former-the paper orother material might with more ad'- vantage be treated separately as toeach thickness or portion of the article.

What I claim as of my invention, and ,de-

sire to secure by Letters Patent as en i111- correspondingly in shape tothe Satchel-like proved manufacture, is bottom, as set forth anddescribed.

A Satchel-bottom bag in the usual flattened. In testimony whereof I havehereunto set of May, 1878.

condition,butheviuginthevicinity ofits mouth my hand this 13th day endmarks, creases, or equivalent devices op- JAMES ARKELL. erating tofacilitate thefolding of the mate- In presence of!- rial, atter thedistentiou of the bag, by filling W. N.SMITH, into flaps adapted toclose this end of the beg I. D. VAN OLINDA.

Cerreeten i 1t is hereby certified that in the original claim on file inthe Patent Office,

commas found in line 5 of the printe claim herein contained do notoccur; 2, tha Words after the dstention-of the bag by lling in saidclaim are udosedt in a p thesis; and 3, that the Word up sueeeeds theworde foding and elose, as in lines L and G of the printed Claimrespectively.

December '7, 1878.

